PHNOM PENH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's trade with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries reached 34.52 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, up 17.7 percent from 29.32 billion dollars in the year before, said an official report on Monday.

The kingdom's export to fellow RCEP member countries was valued at 9.06 billion dollars last year, up nearly 13 percent from 8.04 billion dollars a year earlier, said the General Department of Customs and Excise's report.

Meanwhile, the country's imports from the RCEP member countries totaled 25.46 billion dollars, up 19.6 percent from 21.28 billion dollars, the report added.

Cambodia's top five trading partners under the RCEP are China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Singapore.

Entered into force in 2022, the RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states-Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam-and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP is a catalyst for long-term export growth and a magnet to attract more foreign direct investment to the kingdom.

"With preferential tariffs provided under the RCEP agreement, Cambodia's exports to other RCEP members will continue to rise this year and beyond, undoubtedly," he told Xinhua.

Sovicheat said the RCEP, together with other bilateral free trade agreements and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), will help Cambodia achieve its ambitious goals of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050.

Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said RCEP, the world's largest free trade agreement, is a model for multilateralism and free trade.

"In an era marked by rising protectionism and geopolitical uncertainties, the RCEP has emerged as a beacon of multilateral cooperation," he told Xinhua.

"It has demonstrated its transformative potential in bolstering regional economic growth, enhancing trade liberalization, and fostering deeper integration among its members," Mengdavid added. Enditem

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